Fire with Fire
by Anrheithwyr
Summary: Decades after the last of humanity has fled into space to escape their dead planet, war begins to crop once more, and Arthur Weasley must protect what family he has left before it is too late.


"She's not going to be happy about that," Arthur mumbled somewhat fretfully as his assistants helped finish the packing up. The three of them had been at it for most of the day now, and the artificial suns had risen so high in the sky that it left the three males covered in sweat.

_But what other choice did they have?_ With the always present threat of having one's colony smashed into a billion pieces as rebel forces fought against the government, it wasn't exactly safe keeping a _dragon reserve_ where just anyone could stumble upon it.

Romania was one of the better colonies to come out of the Space Age, when the people of Old Earth had finally fled from the crippled and bleeding planet that they had once called home. Romania had been one of the last colonies built, equipped specifically for the continued existence of _dragons_.

Arthur had lived on Romania his whole life; in fact, he couldn't think of a single person in the colony who _hadn't _been born within the walls of this new life. The last of the old humans had died out, or so it was said, leaving those that remained as a generation of people who did not recall a life on Earth.

But now, with the rebels claiming that the people of New Earth-which was not truly any sort of place so much as a concept used to connect the various colonies-were being oppressed by the government…well, it would seem that the problems of Old Earth had not been left behind so easily.

"Mr. Weasley, what is it, exactly, that you think you're doing?" a harsh, raised voice demanded, and Arthur was driven from his thoughts to watch as Dr. Grubbly-Plank made her way across the reserve pens to where the three males were still packing up. "I don't recall having ever _given_ you or your boys' permission to depart from Romania. Or have we decided to _ignore _protocol again?"

"We're getting out, Doc," one of the boys, Dean, said, giving Dr. Grubbly-Plank a determined look, his chin set, eyeing her with all the courage of a youth who has faced death and decided not to care about death's existence for the sake of living.

That was why Arthur had hired the boys in the first place; they were not innocent like many of the children on Romania, unaware of a whole stretch of life that had come before them to be able to reach this state, scared animals hiding in space, killing each other over resources and laws.

The boys, his assistants for the past three years, had been living on the colony formally known as Mark-12V3, but was more often referred to as Hogwarts, a mostly child-dominated station that had served as a sort of learning institution.

At least, it had been, until Hogwarts was blown up, suspected of housing rebel forces from the government. Only a dozen or so students had escaped, sent off in pods to land where they could, shoved away from the doomed colony by teachers who knew there was no other way to save anyone before they were all dead.

Arthur had had four children on Hogwarts at that point-three of his sons and his only daughter, the last remaining connection to his wife Molly, who had passed away four years ago of the same strange mold that seemed to be slowly infecting much of the Romanian colony.

Arthur Weasley very much wanted to continue living, and he intended on keeping his assistants alive as well. And if that meant abandoning a life's worth of research-research that had cost him a fifth child, a fourth son-then Arthur knew he had no other choice.

Romania was not the place to stay, not with the colonies in such disarray like this. There was too much fighting, too much warring, and Arthur knew he had to get out, before it was too late, and Romania became just another Hogwarts, destroyed so easily, and without remorse.

"We're going, Wilhelmina. I've already discussed this with Professor Kettleburn, and he tells me that the wisest decision is to leave, _now_, before the rebels get any closer. We're a colony with dragons, Wilhelmina. Don't you think those forces out there are going to be at least a _little bit _interested in what we have here?" Arthur asked, trying to remain calm.

They had a limited about of time before the next shuttle left, and if Arthur and his boys weren't on that shuttle, they would never be able to leave Romania. They would die here, like Molly had, suffocating on air that hurt her lungs. They would die here, like Charlie had, giving his own life so that the dragons would live. They would die, like his sons Fred, George, and Ron, and his daughter Ginny, unaware that they had ever even done anything to warrant annihilation.

"You're diverting from the point, Arthur," Dr. Grubbly-Plank growled, crossing her arms and scowling in a manner that made the imposing woman that much more threatening. "You and your boys here are set to work on the dragon reserves for at least another eight months. Abandoning your post because you're afraid will do little to help those of us who remain."

"I have no desire to die here, Wilhelmina. I have no desire to die at all, nor risk the lives of Seamus and Dean. I will not stay here if there is ever any that we will not survive," Arthur said sharply, staring down the doctor, the memory of losing almost his whole family stinging him.

"My grandfather had no desire to die, either, Arthur. But he stayed on Earth, and he did his duty. Will you do yours?" Dr. Grubbly-Plank said, and Arthur recalled with a start the story of Dr. Plank, a scientist who had helped design and build many of the stations and pods that the human race now lived in.

There hadn't been enough-with almost ten billion people on the planet, there would never be enough-and it had been up to Dr. Plank and the other scientists to make the decision to stay behind on Earth to make sure as many of the stations got into space as possible.

Forty-three men and women, along with millions of others who had been incapable of getting aboard a ship in time, had stayed behind on Earth to perish as the dust choked out what little life still remained.  
>Arthur recalled the story of Dr. Plank, who had sent his eight months pregnant wife on board the first ship with a promise that he would find a way to join her. He never had, but Dr. Plank's son-Wilhelmina's father-had grown to be one of the many intellectuals dedicating their life to finding a new world for humans to populate.<p>

"I am sorry for your grandfather," Arthur said, but Dr. Grubbly-Plank only sighed, looking Seamus and Dean up and down, watching the way the two males leaned into each other, holding hands tightly, like they never wanted to be separated in their life again.

"I suppose, if you truly think you will be doing better somewhere else, Arthur, that I cannot stop you or your assistants from leaving this station. I only suggest that you hurry, as the shuttle is going to leave in ten minutes," Dr. Grubbly-Plank murmured quietly, almost as if to herself, before suddenly turning around and walking back the way she had come.

Arthur stood there a few moments more, with Dean and Seamus tugging at his sleeves, telling Arthur to hurry, before they missed the shuttle. He finally shook himself from the confusion that swamped his head, looking down at all the dragons and work that had once been his to claim. But soon enough, everything would change.

"Come on, then," he said, taking his two charges and walking determinedly to the shuttle bay. They had everything they could fit into bags, which meant leaving a lot of paperwork and important memories behind, but the three had known what they were risking just by leaving the Romanian dragon reserve before the whole place went up in flames.

Arthur was not ecstatic about leaving the home he had been raised on his whole life, nor was he pleased about disrupting Dean and Seamus' lives once more, but he had no other choice. The danger was drawing closer to them each and every day, and they were holding fire to Arthur's coattails, threatening to burn him if he didn't move fast enough.

They got to the shuttle just in time, much to the annoyance of the other passengers, but Arthur let them grumble away as he helped load their bags and the boys onto the shuttle.

And then he stepped back off, standing on the landing bay, his bag still on the ground next to him. His heart was breaking again, into a million pieces, from having to say good-bye, but he had no other choice now.

"Arthur!" Dean cried, realising what was going on. "Arthur, come with us! Arthur, don't be ridiculous, you can't leave us, we love you!"

But Seamus, who understood, only kissed Dean on the mouth, whispering something in his ear. Dean frowned, but seemed to understand, and Seamus drew his lover away from the shuttle doors, which snapped shut, leaving Arthur alone on the docking bay, watching as the shuttle took off, stealing away from his what little was left of his family.

Arthur waved good-bye despondently, and then headed back to the dragon reserve. He knew what he had to do, what had to be done for the good of the shuttle. He was ready for anyone-the rebels, the cold, emotionless government that murdered wherever it went without a thought to the lives it was wasting.

Because the dragons had a weapon that could help Arthur and the others on the shuttle fight back: they had dragon's fire, deadly and dangerous enough to save everyone on board, as long as they used it quickly enough. Arthur would not allow his home to taken away from him, not when he had lost everything else in the world that was dear to him.

No, this time, he would fight fire with fire, and he would watch as _they _burnt. Because, Arthur realised, this _was_ just like the Old Earth. The rules were still the same here in space as they were on that dust-choked planet: you fight for your life with everything you have, or you die for nothing.

And now, with Dean and Seamus far off, sent away to hold each other tightly, Arthur was ready to fight for what rightfully was his, for what had always been his: home.


End file.
